Just back from California – and a truly memorable trip. After a last-minute drop-out by Natalie (one of the writers who had to attend an interview for Oxford!) Five of us went over – myself, Sol and writers/actors Lenny, Mick and David (Magic, Worm and the barman). It was not only their first trip to the United States, but their first trip abroad – and a life-changing trip it was for all of them.
We stayed with supporters of the festival – officially titled Sonoma Valley Food, Wine and Film Festival (so you can imagine the hospitality we encountered). Our accommodation can only be described as breath-taking (including a hill-top luxury villa with valley-view infinity pool). We had a fleet of new Jags at our beck-and-call 16 hours a day, we mixed with Robin Williams, stars from Lost, The Sopranos and the creative team from Pixar – Toy Story / Cars etc (one of whom watched the UTM DVD twice on the run, she enjoyed it so much!) and all-in-all had a total blast.
Oh yes, and the film went down really well too. One slight gripe was that our screening slots weren’t great – 10am first day, 8.30pm last day – clashing with the awards ceremony, which meant we had no chance of the audience award, which was disappointing – but its fair to say we did win the hearts of Sonoma. Lenny and Mick did a couple of impromptu gigs and we socialised 24/7.
After one panel, during which I had told the long saga of how the film came to be made, two people approached me afterwards, one an entertainment Lawyer offering pro-bono work on the music clearances, the other offering investment to help pay the outstanding music clearances (both have been in touch since we got back, I’ll keep you all informed).
So, thanks to South Liverpool Housing and Niace for making the trip possible, next up – a screening at BAFTA, Piccadily (date tbc) meanwhile the search for a distributor goes on.
Roy Boulter